Councilman Santiago attended St. Michael’s elementary school, the Cleveland School for the Arts and Lincoln West High School.  He worked as a cook at Holy Family Cancer Home before joining the United States Navy.  The Councilman served in the Liberation of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm.  He was also an Enlisted Aide to the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon an Enlisted Aide to Admiral Chiles at OFFUTT Air force Base in Nebraska. 

A graduate of the Citizen Police Academy, Councilman Santiago sat on the Second District Police Community Relations Committee and served as Co-Chair for the BOBCAT Patrol.  The Councilman went on to complete the Cleveland Leadership Program in 1999, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix 2005.             

After the Councilman’s ten-year naval career, he returned to Cleveland to become active in his community.  He was chairman of the Holmden Buhrer Rowley Block Club and served as a board member and 1st Vice President of the Tremont West Development Corporation before being elected Councilman.

Councilman Santiago is a highly competitive, self-starter is organized disciplined and goal oriented.  He was honored April 2008 as Ohio’s Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan by the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs (OCHLA) and Governor Ted Strickland, Councilman Santiago has also served as chairman of Cleveland’s Puerto Rican Parade for the past 5 years and was honored as the Grand Marshal in 2006, he has also been honored at Cleveland’s Pride Parade and served as Grand Marshal in 2005 and 2007.  Councilman Santiago sits on five (5) committees:  Employment & Affirmative Action (co-chair), Health & Human Resources, Public Safety, Public Service and Public Utilities, Councilman Santiago also serves on the Personnel & Operations Committee for Cleveland City Council he also serves on several boards that allow him the opportunity to be the voice of the Hispanic Community and Ward 14.            

Councilman Santiago also serves his constituents on several boards: Senior Transportation (STC), Aides Funding Collaborative (AFC), Lutheran Hospital Community Advisory Board, Golden Agers Committee, City of Cleveland Community Relations Board, and the Democratic Ward Club, member,

·         The Employment, Affirmative Action & Training Committee is responsible for the formulation and the monitoring of job participation policies for publicly-funded development projects, the oversight of affirmative action policies, the certification of minority-and female-owned businesses, and oversight of contract compliance with city affirmative action goals. In addition, it is responsible for developing job training policies and the performance evaluation of job training contracts. This committee oversees the city's Workforce Investment Act job training programs.
 
·       The Health & Human Services Committee handles all matters relating to public health, public charities, work relief, city correctional institutions and city charitable organizations, including sanitation, unemployment, air pollution control, lake and river pollution and nuisances. The city's departments of Health and Welfare, Human Resources and Aging report to the Health & Human Services Committee.

·       Personnel & Operations Committee

·       The Public Safety Committee is responsible for the oversight of the Cleveland Police and Fire Departments, the Emergency Medical Service and the Boxing and Wrestling Commission. In addition, it oversees the enforcement of Cleveland's traffic code, off-street parking issues, and building inspections, and all matters related to the city's Department of Public Safety.

·       The Public Service Committee is responsible for all matters relating to street and sewer improvements, switch track and pipe lines, grade crossings, street cleaning, waste collection and disposal, bridges and underpasses and all matters relating to Cleveland's Department of Public Service.

·       The Public Utilities Committee is responsible for all matters related to Cleveland's water supply, sewage disposal, the municipal electrical light plant, telecommunications, public utility rates, railway and railroad operations, and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. This committee handles all issues pertaining to the city's Department of Public Utilities